Xbox One review: More than a game console, less than a living room revolution

Limited multitasking and voice commands aren't worth an extra $100 on their own.

When Microsoft released its last video game console in 2005, the Xbox 360 was primarily just that: a console to play video games on your TV. Sure, there were some basic online messaging and chat functions, but its main focus was clear.

The same cannot be said for the Xbox One. Microsoft is positioning its newest system as the center of a Netflix-filled, Kinect-powered, do-everything-on-your-TV world controlled through a single source. Yes, playing games is still a big part of the Xbox One, but this is a system designed to be on whenever your TV is on. Microsoft claims that the Xbox One is the only box you'll need to control all of your visual entertainment.

The Xbox One does a lot of things right in this light, bringing usable voice controls and so-so multitasking to the TV in interesting ways. But there are still a few kinks to be worked out before the Xbox One truly becomes the center of everything you do on your TV.

Xbox One unboxing.

Hardware

After substantially slimming down the Xbox 360 line over the years, the Xbox One is a return to Microsoft's original form as far as casing goes. The Xbox One case is actually a little wider and deeper than the original Xbox from 2001 (you know, the one that inspired all the jokes about how big it was), and it's almost as tall. You'll need to carve out a decent amount of space in your entertainment center to fit it, especially since Microsoft has explicitly said that the system is not designed to be stood up on its side. You'll also have to make room for a power brick that's roughly the same size as the one on recent Xbox 360s (though much smaller than the power brick of launch-era Xbox 360 systems).

The extremely boxy design and sharp, 90-degree corners don't do the case any favors in the aesthetics department, especially compared to the gentle curves of the most recent Xbox 360 units. Combine that boxy shape and size with a weight of about nine pounds, and the Xbox One isn't a system that's easy to pack up and take with you (not that most users are going to do anything but plop it down in an entertainment center anyway).That said, we are fans of the diagonal corrugated vents on the top and sides of the system.

Enlarge/ One USB port on the front corner, but there are two more in the back.

That extra size seems to pay off, though, when it comes to keeping the system quiet. It's functionally silent from across the living room, even when loading data from a disc and running a game. You can make out some very low-level operating noise if you get right up next to the unit, but for most use cases, you'll be able to leave it on without your ears noticing. That's even more surprising when you realize that the system's fan is blowing a fair bit of heat out of the top grating after just a few minutes of gaming.

Xbox One power usage

Off (energy-saving mode)

0.3W

Standby Mode (quick start-up)

17-18W

Standby mode w/ download

18-19W

Standby mode w/ disc install

25W

Idle on system menu

69W

Installing game from menu

74W

Hulu Plus

73W

Gaming (Powerstar Golf from HD)

109-116W

Gaming (Ryse, while installing from disc)

120W

Gaming (Ryse) + Hulu Plus "snapped"

120W

Power-wise, the Xbox One is relatively efficient for the game console space, drawing only 69 Watts when displaying the system menu and topping out at about 120 Watts during a power-hungry game. The system can be turned off completely, but it will take up anywhere from 17 to 18 Watts if you leave it in standby mode. This allows for much quicker start-up and the ability to power the system on just by saying "Xbox, on."

One interesting note on that last score: in standby mode, the Xbox One spikes from 17 or 18 Watts up to the high 20s if it hears someone in the room say "Xbox" before lowering back down after a few seconds. The Wattage reading doesn't spike at all during other conversation (and doesn't move an inch when the system is completely off), so if the Kinect is secretly listening to you from standby mode, it's doing so quite discreetly.

Hardware power

No matter how much you look atthe hardware specsonpaper, the proof of a system's power is still measured by the hard-to-quantify visual impact that sets the system apart from the previous generation of consoles. Thus far that generational impact seems as muted on the Xbox One as it is on the PS4.

To be sure, there is a definite extra patina of shininess to the graphics on Xbox One games compared to what was possible on previous consoles. It's most apparent in the lighting effects, especially in games like Forza Motorsport 5, where the sun comes over a hill like a blinding nova or reflects off your driver to cast his translucent reflection on the windshield. The move to 60 frames per second without a dip in visual quality also helps games like these. You can see it in an extra coat of detail on things like the ice crystals in a cave in Crimson Dragon or the contours and jiggles of faces and bodies of the motion-captured actors in Ryse.

Other launch games, however, will make you wonder if you're just playing late-era Xbox 360 games. Titles like Dead Rising 3, Zoo Tycoon, and Powerstar Golf have characters and environments that are practically indistinguishable from those on the eight-year-old system, save for the number of characters on the screen at once and maybe a slight bump in the texture detail.

Even the best-looking games on the system, though, don't pack the visual oomph you might expect from hardware that's eight years newer than the 360. There's a noticeable improvement, but at this point, if you sat it next to an Xbox 360, you might not think it's all that different.

We didn't have a chance to do any direct comparisons between multiplatform games available for both the Xbox One and PS4 yet; look for those in the coming days. Among the most enticing exclusive games on both systems (probably Forza 5 and Killzone: Shadow Fall, respectively), it's hard to pick one as the clear winner from a pure polygon-pushing standpoint. That might sound like a punt, but truly, if there's a sizable difference in the processing capabilities evident in these titles, it's not apparent from the top end of the launch libraries.

Controller

Microsoft had its work cut out for it in improving on what is generally considered (by this writer, at least) to be one of the best handheld console controllers ever made. The Xbox One's improves on that design in some ways while leaving some easy potential improvements sitting on the table.

The most noticeable thing about the new controller when you first hold it is the new textured edges along the top of the analog sticks. The cross-hatch pattern etched into the tough rubber provides a very nice grip for when your thumb ends up pushing the stick from the side, rather than from the top, and this design gives an immediate and unconscious indication of where your thumb is in relation to the center of the stick.

Enlarge/ Besides the different texture, the Xbox One analog sticks (right) are a tad smaller than those on the Xbox 360 controller.

The four tiny bumps that indicated the cardinal directions on the top of the Xbox 360's analog sticks are gone this time around. Personally, I don't miss them much, as I found the way they felt on the tip of my thumb slightly distracting. The divot in those sticks now comes to a slight point, rather than being perfectly concave. This may be to match the slight point in the center of the fleshy part of the human thumb, but since I usually point the tips of my thumbs down into the analog sticks, I found the new shape a bit distracting.

Enlarge/ Damn, trigger.... you got fat... and you got a big bumper, too!

The shoulder buttons are the other most obvious change in the new controller, all four of them receiving an increase in size from the Xbox 360 controller. To achieve this, the designers have almost completely eliminated the already-small space between the front bumpers and the rear triggers, leaving only a hairline between the two. The rear triggers have also been expanded significantly to the sides of the controller, tapering off diagonally in a way that extends the natural curve of the controller. (The springs on these triggers also have much less resistance than those on the Xbox 360, allowing you to hold the trigger down for long periods without the slightest bit of fatigue).

These ergonomic changes allow your index finger to rest quite naturally in a sort of trench created by the vertical protrusion of the shoulder buttons. This position makes it quite easy to both click the front triggers with the inside of the second knuckle on the finger and to pull in the back triggers with the top of your fingers. On the Xbox 360, I ended up usually resting my fingers on the triggers and moving them to reach the buttons, but the new positioning on the Xbox One felt much more natural.

The triggers come equipped with what Microsoft calls impulse triggers, new distinct rumble motors that send a gentle buzz right up through each shoulder trigger and into your sensitive fingertips. It's a nice feature to have in games like Forza 5, which uses rumble through the right trigger to indicate acceleration and through the left to indicate braking. Overall, the Xbox One controller seems to have more gradation in its rumble than the Xbox 360 controller had, and it's especially noticeable at the very low levels. The improvements are welcome but not world-changing. I could live without them if I had to go back to the old, more binary Xbox 360 rumbling.

Enlarge/ Is it me, or do these controllers look like they're morphing into one another's forms?

The worst part of the original Xbox 360 controller—the awful, squishy, circular D-pad—has been replaced with a tight, clicking plus-sign that is very responsive to quick double-taps. The clearance on the face buttons also seems lower this time around, requiring less total movement to register a push. And the central Xbox button on the controller now glows with a gentle white background rather than the green semicircles of the Xbox 360 controller. This means that there's no more easy indication of "player 1" and "player 2" on the controller itself, but all players are supposed to log in with at least a Guest username for identification anyway.

For all these improvements, I wish Microsoft kept going and changed just a couple more things on its new controller. The first would be the addition of a rechargeable battery pack. In 2013, requiring two AA batteries for a consumer device that's going to get hundreds or thousands of hours of use seems downright silly. Yet Microsoft is still charging $25 extra for a battery pack that you can charge from inside the controller.

Sure, it's nice to be able to transform any controller from wired to wireless with a standard USB cable if you run out of batteries. And to be fair, the two AAs that came with my Xbox One controller show no signs of dying after probably 15 to 20 hours of solid use over the last week or so (Microsoft tells me there is currently no way to measure controller battery levels through the system, but that such a feature will be coming in a future update). Still, recharging a controller in this day and age should be an included feature and not an optional upgrade.

The one other big, continuing con in Microsoft's controller line is the proprietary port for headsets. Not only does this port lock out the dozens of standardized single-plug and USB gaming headsets on the market, but it also locks out any headsets designed for the Xbox 360. Those work on a different proprietary standard (Microsoft is reportedly working on an adapter, but it won't be ready until next year at the earliest). The headset that's included with the Xbox One retail package is functional enough (if a little bare bones), but it shouldn't be the only option for someone who already has a number of headsets available.

Kyle Orland / Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area.